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| Paigah Palace ,Begumpet, Hyderabad Matrimony Mandaps |
The historical city of Hyderabad, that has emerged as one of IT centers in the world, has lots of monuments located within and close to the city. As this city and the old Hyderabad state was ruled by the Nizams of the Deccan, the rich Muslim rulers, most of the old structures have a strong influence of Muslim architectural style, in particular, Mogul style. There are also some old buildings built in European style.
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| interior. Paigah Palace ,Begumpet, Hyderabad, India.Telangana Today |
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| Paigah Palace ,Begumpet, Hyderabad, India. ,India Tourism |
What is so unique about Paigah palace? It is a 2-story European style palace (completed in 1900) built on a plot of roughly 4 acres. A grand portico with entablature, semi-circular arches, Corinthian columns, deep arcaded verandas on all four sides and above all a neo-classical facade add an extra impetus to this building and make it stand apart.
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| Paigah Palace ,Begumpet, Hyderabad, IndiaSouth Report. |
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| Paigah Palace ,Begumpet, Hyderabad dome.mit.edu |
The 1880s was a golden area for Hyderabad and the surrounding place because a large number of palaces in European and Indo-European style of architecture came up during this time/. The reason for the phenomenal construction of European style building is the influx of highly placed European officials under the Nizam rule who often visited this place. many of them wanted an Indian touch to the buildings.
"Paigah", (meaning pomp and high rank), an honorary title bestowed by the second Nizam, Nizam Ali Khan on the estates held by Abul Fateh Khan, Taig Jung Bahadur in recognition and appreciation of his loyal service. Paigahs are ranked next to the Nizams and are entitled to matrimonial alliance with them. The builder of this palace Sir Vicar- ul Umra, happened to be the grand son of the third Nizam Nawab Sikander Jah and married Jahandarunnissa, daughter of the fifth Nizam, Nawab Afzal-ud Dowla.
When Sir Vicar- ul Umra was the Prime of Prime Minister in 1890s for eight long years, he was not in pursuit of the trappings that were associated with such a high post, instead, being a visionary and intelligent man, apart from constructing amazing buildings, he introduced certain reforms in education and administration to benefit the society. The engineering college, the law college and the Asafia Library (State Central Library at Afzalgunj) were founded by him.
It is quite amazing that this building was designed to cut the impact of tropical sun, particularly in the summer. Hence, the structure has 2-foot thick walls around that give good insulation against harsh weather conditions outside. Besides, the ceilings are high enough not to let the radiation reach the ground. In the ground floor the height of the ceiling is 22 feet where as the in the first floor it is 26 feet. There are 20 spacious rooms with facilities. Yet another feature is the elevated central part with rectangular vent which has dual purposes. It allows enough light in and at the same time provides good ventilation, allowing the circulation of fresh air. From the well-projected three windows one can get a panoramic view of the greenery around the building.
As for the rooms, each room has huge doors (7 to 10 feet high) with stucco work. One can see nice decorations on the pediments atop the door.Top borders of the wall have nice floral patterns. One can not miss the nicely carved wooden spiral staircase leading you to the first floor.
It was Vicar-ul-Umra, the Paigah noble man in 1895 presented Falaknuma, one of the opulent palaces in the country, to the sixth Nizam, Mir Mahbub Ali Khan when he set his eyes on it.
He, subsequently, built "Paigah Palace", or Devdi Iqbal-ud- Daula (so named after one of his several titles) at Begumpet.
This building is occupied by the government HUDA where 300 employees are working. In 1981 it shifted to this place.
https://www.thehindu.com/mp/2003/12/31/stories/2003123100350300.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paigah_Palace
